Travelling is Her Middle Name

The New Indian Express: Bangalore: Tuesday, 28 October 2014.

She calls herself Poornima Travelling Sukumar and for good reason. She is currently travelling with a cargo of goodwill to Kashmir in a lorry. This art caravan, she says, is called Winter on Wheels and is gathering warm clothing for the Kashmiris affected by the recent floods.

At every stop, she and her co-traveller Akram Feroz also make time to connect with the locals. “In Bhopal for instance, we went to four public spaces, gave out canvasses to people and this art will come with us to Jammu and Kashmir,” says Poornima in a telephonic chat from Baroda.

This Fine Arts graduate from Chitrakala Parishat decided in her early twenties that making memories was more important to her than making money.

Poornima steered clear of desk jobs but is in great demand today as a ‘wall artist’ and as an occasional art director for ad films.

Says she, “A wall artist is not a graffiti artist. My work tells a story that a client has to live with. It is art that becomes a part of your living space.”

She adds, "My idea of success is different. To me success means travelling to as many places as one possibly can and meeting new people and experiencing all that life has to offer. And to paint. It is not about making money though one does need that occasionally.”  The long truck journey she is currently undertaking began in Hyderabad and continued across Nagpur, Bhopal, Indore and Baroda.

“It is an experience I will never forget. During this journey, the truck is our home. We sleep on the clothing packets we have been gathering from various cities. We freshen up at washrooms at petrol pumps and eat at local joints. The paintings we have gathered will be auctioned sometime soon and the proceeds will be divided between the artists and the relief initiatives for Jammu and Kashmir,” shares Poornima.

“Akram and I are doing this in collaboration with ITMD-Hyderabad, J&K RTI Movement, Rural Voice, J&K Flood helpline, Project Heal Kashmir and various other organisations,” she further adds.